Yesterday, we shared some Lent Madness buzz that we noticed on the interwebs. Today we thought we'd share the excitement that's building for Lent Madness in the form of Purple Fever. Make sure you tell all your friends to tune in on Ash Thursday (February 14) to vote in Lent Madness 2013!

Top Ten Signs of Purple Fever

10. People are eating purple food.

9. Large crowds are forming. We don't know if the guy in front is "blowing up the trumpet in Zion" per the Ash Wednesday readings, or trying to get the crowd to sing the Lent Madness theme music.

8. New York City is taking Purple Fever to the sky.

7. At least one member of the Supreme Executive Committee regularly uses a purple bridge.

6. People have started wearing purple hats to show their enthusiasm for Lent Madness. Others actually wear purple shirts.

(more…)

Around the globe, excitement is building as we approach the tip-off of Lent Madness 2013. We expect most sermons tomorrow will be about Lent Madness, so we're providing some fodder for you last-minute sermon writers. However, we do not encourage a reading from USA Today in lieu of the Gospel, as tempting as that might be. Here are some buzzing bits from around the interwebs.

On Thursday, hotel guests around the world had their breakfasts interrupted with a photo of the Supreme Executive Committee on the pages of USA Today, along with a pretty great article. Tip of the hat to Jim Naughton from the Episcopal Café for mentioning the story to the right people at the right time. We expect that, due to incredible Lent Madness fandom, everyone at the Episcopal Café is now sipping their coffee from Lent Madness mugs. They are a café, right?

In a more sober and inspiring vein, someone struggling mightily with disease has been looking to Lent Madness to provide her some joy in the weeks ahead. Out of respect for her privacy, we won't link to her journal, but we ask your prayers for her and for all those seeking hope. May Lent bring renewal to us all, and may Lent Madness bring joy.

We're glad to see some dioceses on the Lent Madness bandwagon. The dioceses of Newark, Arizona, Lexington, Washington, and Texas are on board. Perhaps we're most impressed by the Diocese of Hawai'i, which has Lent Madness front and center. Last year they got behind local hero Queen Emma, and she went all the way to the championship. This year, it looks like they're rallying behind Damien of Molokai, who has a firm connection to Hawai'i.

Last year, we thought it was cool when we appeared on the pages of the Washington Post, but we're more excited this year to appear on the pages of St. Paul's K Street monthly newsletter. Yep, you heard it right. Being Anglo-Catholic, how long can it be before they have Solemn Evensong and Benediction of the Golden Halo, or the until the choir leads the congregation in chanting of the Litany of Saints (In The Bracket)?

Minnesota is a big Lent Madness stronghold. We've heard from St. Clement's and St. Paul's on-the-Hill, both in St. Paul. Purple fever is strong there. You can see a photo from St. Paul's on-the-Hill on our Facebook page. Of course, it's not just Episcopalians who get Lent Madness, as evidenced by a certain Methodist congregation in the distant realms of Idaho. In the heartland, you'll find plenty of Lent Madness fans at St. Thomas, Overland Park, KS. Back east, you'll be able to have a big debate over the merits of various saints at coffee hour if you show up at Cunningham Chapel in Virginia.

Our own Celebrity Blogger is rocking both Lent Madness and clerical fashion, as evidenced by a photo and story on Kentucky.com. Laurie Brock is doing Lent Madness in style here on www.lentmadness.org, and also in her parish, St. Michael the Archangel, Lexington, KY.

We've been mentioned on a bunch of blogs, including RevRuth's Rantings, Building Faith, Fr. Jonathan's Blog, and Word and Table. In case you were wondering if we are really important, we've been labeled as an official Vital Practice. There are lots of others, so if we missed you, please leave a comment to alert our readers. We'll do another round of shout-outs in a bit.

Oh, and in crossover appeal, we're apparently popular with Detroit Tigers fans.

Last, but not least, we've received what we consider to be a celebrity endorsement. Barbara Crafton has gone on record about Lent Madness, saying, and we quote, "You guys are wacko."

Throughout the world, people are wondering how they will manage to wait until Ash Thursday. Just one week from today, Lent Madness 2013 kicks off on February 14, 2013. In an effort to serve our global audience, the Supreme Executive Committee hereby shares the Top 10 Ways to Pass the Longest Week of the Year.

10. Get your bracket for Lent Madness 2013. Print it out. Start picking your saints.
9. You'll need to do some research to succeed at number 10. Besides Wikipedia, there are some great resources listed on this site. Naturally, we especially recommend The Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2013 Ultra-Revised Edition.
8. Go on a worldwide Lent Madness pilgrimage. Build an itinerary with St. Louis, St. Bart's, San Francisco and other saint cities and/or islands.
7. Sip coffee from your official Lent Madness 2013 coffee mug. Just please do not put lousy coffee in it. Life is too short, and the mug is too great.
6. Plan to take part in Brackets to Go this year on Shrove Tuesday. It's important to take the brackets to the people, rather than expecting people to come to the brackets. Print out some brackets and hand them out at train stations or street corners.
5. Watch the entire corpus of Monday Madness episodes again. If possible, get the director's cut on Blu-Ray. Make sure you learn our new theme music so you can hum it constantly.
4. As you know, the SEC does not condone gambling. However, we do encourage fund-raising for charity. Start up a betting pool, and give the proceeds to a great cause such as Episcopal Relief & Development.
3. Plan to hijack the pulpit at your church on Sunday. Get everyone rallied up. Suggest various places where brackets could be placed (the front of the altar, on the back of the celebrant's chasuble, or projected onto giant screens).
2. Connect with other Lent Madness fans by liking our page on Facebook, following us on Twitter, or getting Pinterested in our other social media.
1. Tell your friends about the good news of Lent Madness. Why keep the joy to yourself?

Before you know it, it will be time to cast the first votes in Lent Madness 2013. Who will win the Golden Halo? No one knows, but it will be a grand competition. Expect laughter, learning, inspiration, and no small amount of snark.

Due to celebrations of the triumph of purple, the Supreme Executive Committee will not be releasing an episode of Monday Madness this week. Tim was busy writing an article for the Huffington Post about Ray Lewis and his brilliant theology.

Tim has also issued a video statement which may be found on Maple Anglican's excellent video for the week. In this video, you will find reporting on the recent play-in between John Donne and T. S. Eliot, as well as a particular football game. The SEC is grateful to our neighbor to the north for this and for all his good work. We view this as evidence of the worldwide buzz around Lent Madness.

Tune in next week for a new episode of Monday Madness. If you're not sure what to do with yourself, why not spend some time in the Lentorium buying mugs, bracket posters, or ebooks for your Kindle or Nook? And of course it's still Celebrity Blogger Week, so there's that.

In their never-ending dedication to you, the fans of Lent Madness, the Supreme Executive Committee searched across the globe for the perfect theme music for Monday Madness. Here is the result of that worldwide search:

Tune in every Monday (in season) for a new episode of Monday Madness. You can watch the complete oeuvre on the Lent Madness video channel. When you settle in to watch this excellent material, make sure you sip a warm beverage from the right kind of mug.

(more…)

Lent Madness isn't just about saints, discipleship, voting, formation, and chuckles. Like the rest of our culture, it's about commerce. So here's your chance to stock up on Lent Madness goodies.

First of all, you can't tell the players without a program. Get thee to the Kindle or Nook stores and buy a copy of Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2013 Ultra-Revised Edition. This venerable title began life as book of devotional essays on the saints by Canon David Veal. Last year, we revised and updated it to include all the official saints of the Episcopal Church calendar (none of the trial use clutter) PLUS all the saints in Lent Madness. This year, it has been Ultra Revised to include all the saints in Lent Madness 2013. Besides author David Veal and editor Scott Gunn, this year's contributors include several celebrity bloggers and Lent Madness luminaries: Laurie Brock, Megan Castellan, Penny Nash, Tim Schenck, Heidi Shott, and David Sibley. Janet Buening on the Forward Movement staff added an essay and pulled the whole thing together. So, anyway, there's lots of great stuff here -- it's a devotionally oriented look at the saints.

For this year, we slashed the price to just $4.99. You can buy it on Kindle or Nook. If you want a paper copy, just place your Kindle on a photocopier and make your own. We promise not to sue you for copyright infringement if you do this, as long as you use a photo of yourself at the copier as your Facebook profile pic and tag "Lent Madness."

Second of all, since you are probably a bit sleepy after thinking about books, you are going to want a shiny new coffee mug. If you insist, it can hold other beverages too, up to eleven ounces. This year's mug features the Lent Madness 2013 logo, as well as the reigning Golden Halo title holder, Mary Magdalene, with a word to this year's bracket of saints: "Good luck filling my shoes!" Buy your mug for the low bargain price of $10 from Forward Movement. Get another one (or ten more) and the price plunges to nine bucks.

Third of all, and finally, you are going to want to track the results of Lent Madness in real time on your living room wall, right? For this you'll need a giant, poster-sized bracket. We have just the thing. New this year, you can buy yourself a 36" by 24" full-color bracket to record the winners of each match. Brackets are just ten bucks, or two for $18. Buy one for your parish hall bulletin board, another for home, and perhaps a third for work. It would not be completely out of line to get one for the car and several for your neighbors.

Keep an eye on the Store page. If we think up more stuff, we'll put it there. Got an idea for something you want to own? Let the Supreme Executive Committee know your ideas.

Buying all this stuff supports the work of Forward Movement, and here's a promise: If we sell at least $10 million of merchandise this year, we'll seriously consider getting a purple Lent Madness blimp for next year. Whoever buys the most stuff (minimum purchase, $1 million) can have a free ride on the official blimp with the SEC. Hey, it could happen. Or not.

While Maple Anglican was busy making a video about this weekend's play-in between John Donne and T. S. Eliot, the Supreme Executive Committee came up with this.

This week, Scott and Tim talk about Celebrity Blogger Week, as well as all the Lent Madness stuff you should go out and buy. Hint: start your collection with a poster-sized Lent Madness 2013 Bracket. Poster-sized brackets are at the printer now and will ship in time for Lent, if you order now! Then check back here for news about the ebook everyone's talking about, Calendar of Saints: Lent Madness 2013 Ultra-Revised Edition. Oh, and don't forget about Lent Madness 2013 mugs, which are going to be shipping soon.

More videos are available at the Vimeo Lent Madness Channel. Watch us instead of Downton Abbey and avoid all that overwrought Edwardian melodrama. Or Georgian melodrama. Whatever. We can't be bothered to care.

Here’s the annual "Lent Madness is nigh!" press release. Free free to give it to the news editor of your local paper or any network news anchors who might happen to attend your parish. Free mugs to anyone who gets national or global news coverage for Lent Madness. If you secure a national prime-time television special about Lent Madness, you can win an all expenses paid trip to Forward Movement's global headquarters in Cincinnati, OH.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Date: January 25, 2012
Contact: The Rev. Tim Schenck or the Rev. Scott Gunn

Lent Madness 2013 Announced
The fourth annual “saintly smackdown” begins February 14

What do you get when you combine a love of sports with a love of saints? Lent Madness, of course. A year after this unique online devotion went viral—with mentions in Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, and many other media outlets, Lent Madness is back.

Based loosely on the wildly popular NCAA basketball tournament, Lent Madness pits 32 saints against one another in public voting as they compete for the coveted Golden Halo. But it is more than that: Lent Madness is really an online devotional tool designed to help people learn about saints. The competition begins on Thursday, February 14 and takes place at www.lentmadness.org.

The creator of Lent Madness, the Rev. Tim Schenck, says “Lent Madness is about getting people to connect with and be inspired by some amazing people who have come before us in the faith. Some are already household names and others are virtually unknown, but we can all learn something from the unique ways they followed God. Plus, there’s no rule that says Lenten disciplines have to be dreary.”

The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for twenty-four hours, and people vote for their favorite saint. Sixteen saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the Golden Halo. The 2012 Lent Madness champion was Mary Magdalene.

Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of Schenck, an Episcopal priest and rector of St. John’s Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the church’s calendar of saints, Schenck came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints, Lent Madness was born on his blog “Clergy Family Confidential.”

Starting in 2012, Schenck partnered with Forward Movement, a publisher and church vitality catalyst in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Scott Gunn, blogger and executive director of Forward Movement, said, “Here is a chance to show that being a Christian, even during Lent, does not require us to give up our sense of humor. Too often, Christians seem dour and even uninspired.” Gunn added, “Last year we reached over 50,000 people with Lent Madness, and we hope to spread reckless joy and contagious discipleship with even more people this Lent.”

This year eight “celebrity bloggers” have been tapped to write for the project including the Rev. Laurie Brock of Lexington, KY; the Rev. Penny Nash of Williamsburg, VA; the Rev. Megan Castellan of Flagstaff, AZ; Canon Heidi Shott of Newcastle, ME; the Rev. David Sibley of Brooklyn, NY; the Rev. Laura Toepfer of San Francisco, CA; the Rev. Neil Alan Willard of Edina, MN; and the Rev. Chris Yaw of Southfield, MI. Information about each of the celebrity bloggers is available on the Lent Madness website.

This year’s heavyweights include John the Baptist, Martin Luther King, Hilda of Whitby, Luke, Dorothy Day, Benedict of Nursia, Martin Luther, and Harriet Tubman.

Christians around the world mark the season of Lent from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The 40-day period is a traditional time of penitence, self-denial, fasting, and preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection at Easter. It is modeled on the 40-day period of Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, recorded in scripture in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Visit www.lentmadness.org to view the full bracket of saints, learn about the contributors, and, starting on February 14, to vote.

Forward Movement has worked since 1935 to bring vitality and spiritual health to the church. Based in Cincinnati, OH, Forward Movement is widely known for its daily devotional Forward Day by Day. Lent Madness is one of many ways that Forward Movement hopes to encourage people to live faithfully throughout their lives. Forward Movement is a ministry of The Episcopal Church.

–30–

Tim and Scott are at it again this week in a new episode of Monday Madness. Tune in as they discuss the Super Bowl, play-in matches, Celebrity Bloggers, and more.

Tune in to the Lent Madness channel on Vimeo for more action-packed episodes of Monday Madness. And don't forget to check out the excellent video work coming from Maple Anglican, including this outstanding recap of the third play-in by color commentators Thomas Cranmer and John Chrysostom.

In an attempt to compete with the excellent Lent Madness videos coming from Maple Anglican, the Supreme Executive Committee has released a Pre-Game video to highlight tomorrow's contest between Samuel Seabury and George Berkeley (make sure you pronounce his name correctly). This is the third play-in match, to determine whether Seabury or Berkeley will earn a spot in the first round of Lent Madness.

[vimeo 57572532 w=500 h=281]

For the record, the Supreme Executive Committee have passed a unanimous resolution condemning Maple Anglican for, on the one hand, mispronouncing Tim's name and, on the other hand, making Scott's photo too small. Aside from those huge problems, we commend Maple's introduction to Lent Madness.

Tune in tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time to cast your vote for Berkeley or Seabury.